Heidelberg

Monday, April 30

Overnight we have sailed to Mannheim. We are up early again and on a bus for a half hour drive to Heidelberg. Our guide is French with a quirky sense of humor. We get info on manufacturing in Mannheim, John Deere to name one.

Heidelberg is lovely, on the banks of the Neckar River with some large beautiful houses. We are dropped off at the castle ruins, along with many other groups of tourists. It is an interesting mix of different eras of architecture. Lovely views of the valley are available at the top terrace. We go back on the bus and are taken to the old town. We get a quick walking tour and have about an hour and a half to explore. We look at the protestant church where Martin Luther had been 500 years ago. And we find the Catholic Church, which is very lovely. A little window shopping, a walk on the bridge, and back on the bus for a 45 minute ride to our new dock.

Once the ship is loaded it takes off. During lunch we sit with two interesting couples - one from Minneapolis (ice cream ceo) and the other an Indian couple from Michigan (wedding with 1200 guests!)

We have a wheel house tour with the captain and then just enjoy the sail. We watch the ship do a turn as we get ready to dock right next to another ship in Rudesheim. We have about two  hours to explore Rudesheim. Its plenty of time to walk thru this little tourist town. 

Time for another meal. Lots of people are eating in town so the room feels empty. Tonight is a chicken in white wine sauce and a salmon with crab meat. Asparagus soup and smoked haddock are the starters. We learn about Norman's story.  He's from the Philippines and has had quite a journey to Viking.

Glass blowing demo after dinner. We are attracted to an oil and vinegar decanter. Very cool.

Strasbourg

Sunday, April 29

We are up and at em again early. Buses leave at 8:45. We are docked in Germany and must drive over the bridge into France. Our guide tells the story of how many times Strasbourg has gone from French to German over its history. We see political buildings and storks. And then do a walking tour thru the old city. It is surprisingly charming. The place is packed with Viking groups but we manage to keep up with our red haired guide. The old buildings are beautiful, as are the canals. The cathedral is amazing just from the outside. We can't get in until later. So we decide to stay in town and have a French lunch. We find a cute restaurant that serves flemmkuchen and a goat cheese salad. With two glasses of wine it's a perfect meal.

At 2pm we can get into the church. It is quite overpowering. Lovely windows, a huge space. We spend quite a bit of time. We meet up with a guide who walks us to our bus and we head back with a little time to relax and read before dinner.

Dinner is duck breast and prawn curry. We sit with a couple from Taiwan, now California.

The Black Forest

Saturday, April 28

Up at 7am with some difficulty. Breakfast is good, of course. We are on the bus to the Black Forest at 8:35 with a guide who grew up in the area. The drive through the area is very interesting. We stop at a place where we can buy cuckoo clocks (which we do!) And sample Black Forest cake. A bit tourista but we go with it. We drive back thru Freiburg, which looks like a cool city. We have learned about white asparagus, vineyards, and history. 

We are back in time for the safety drill and then lunch. Steve can't resist the burger. I have a turkey salad croissant. We love talking to our new Filipino waiter-friends.

We have time to explore Breisach on our own. We walk up to the church and walk around the town. We take a little rest and then head back up to the church for the 6pm mass. It is very nice, with organ and singer in this very old church.

We are back in time for dinner. Beef tartare and romaine salad. Rack of lamb and moules. Black forest cake and apple tarte. All yummy.

On to the River Rhine

Friday, April 27

Time to pack up and leave Basel. Steve cases out the ship's location and it seems easy enough to walk to the pier while rolling our luggage. We are greeted by Norman who takes our luggage. We are shown to our very compact but nice stateroom and then we are treated to a Viking lunch. Totally delicious.

Since we have until 6pm we have time to go to the art museum. the weather is beautiful and we walk part of the way along the river. The museum has a great collection, especially of 15th to 17th Northern European painting.  The collection does go thru the 1950s and has a good number of Picassos.

We walk back to the dock, spending the last of our Swiss francs on Chocolate and Coca-Cola!

We are back on the ship for our cruise orientation. Then it is time for dinner. Also delicious. Steve has a beef sirloin, I have salmon, with great starters of clam chowder and Caesar salad and delicious dessert. Great service and unlimited wine!

The ship pulls out around 9pm. Around 10pm I watch the ship drop through

the locks. Very impressive. A major battle with gnats ends the evening.

Laundry and Basel

Thursday, April 26

First thing I tackle the laundry. It is challenging to figure it out but finally I get it. While the wash is going we hit the grocery store and buy some OJ and croissants which we have when we get back. Then we figure out the dryer and have more time to kill so walk to a nearby wine store called MovenPick. We end up with a great salesman who let's us taste several things and is very knowledgeable about wine. He also sheds light on living in Basel. We buy the bottles and head back to get our clothes which luckily are pretty dry. Laundry was about 6 chf, the best deal in Basel!

We eat our sandwiches from yesterday which aren't too bad and will hold us for awhile. Time to head to the old town. We cross the river and see the rathaus, then the munster. It is quite a nice example of a Romanesque early Gothic church, if what we see is original. Lots of 14th and 15th century people buried here, including Erasmus. We look at the cloisters, the view of the river from the back, and head down an old Alley. We're back at the marktplatz and walk thru a nice department store. Now we find the other part of old Basel and do some walking around. We are now tired and hungry and don't see much choice of restaurants but plop down at a cordon blue restaurant. There are veal and pork choices each with several variations. We get a classic veal cordon blue and one with asparagus, cheese and hollandaise. Rosti potatoes are our side, along with two cold beers. It is one of our more expensive meals (about $95) and one of the most average. But it fills us up and we are ready to walk back. It's a lovely evening and we are back with some time to relax and take a bath!

The trip to Basel

Wednesday, April 25

A last German breakfast, then we check out of our room and have time to do a little shopping. We buy a miniature Hotel Spitzweg, pick up sandwiches, and visit a medieval house. We see the night watchman outside a shop so talk with him.

Time to hit the road as we are worried about construction backlogs. The autobahn is pretty easy and we drive awhile then stop for gas and lunch. It's windy so we eat in the car. Gas fillup costs about $75!

We do hit some delays. Trucks have to stay on the right so in some places there is a very long line of trucks. But we've allowed enough time so pull into Karlsruhe around 4. We can't find a gas station so can't top the tank off. Now we need to return the car, always a challenge. It takes a while to find the right procedure but a gentleman in the DB office was so helpful. We have to drive the car around the station and again with his help we locate the Hertz parking place. We have about an hour before the train, which is about 20 minutes late. Enough time for a pretzel!

The train arrives and we have to figure out where our seats are and where to put our luggage. That done we sit back for the hour and a half long ride. We hop off the train at Basel Bad and now have to get Swiss cash and find a taxi. We get to our place and find our host and get a quick tour. We are off for dinner but can't find much in our area and nothing is cheap so we grab some Indian food and take it back to the apartment. It does the trick.

There's a nice tub in the bathroom but you can't use it after 9pm!

Rothenburg

Tuesday, April 24

Big breakfast but very traditional German. We start by trying to find a place to do laundry. It is hopeless. So our first stop is the Lutheran church with the two beautiful altars. Then we compare it to the old Catholic church which is devoid of most decoration.

A long stop at the gigantic Christmas store, only one of six just in this town!

Lunch is a doner kabob for a change of pace. Then we visit the Museum of Medieval Torture, a bit more shopping (Steve gets his stein), buy some schneeballen, and back for a rest.

It is a pleasant early evening so we walk some of the old city wall.

Time for dinner so we head to an Italian restaurant that is packed. The waiter tells us it will take at least an hour to get food so we decide to leave.  We are still in mood for Italian so go to Cafe Michelangelo which we passed earlier today. Dinner is delicious. Potato soup with asparagus and truffle oil, carbonara, and a salami pizza. It's topped off with a nice Italian red.

Drive to Rothenburg

Monday, April 23

We have another delightful breakfast and say goodbye to our wonderful hosts. We are on our way to Fussen to visit the old city that we haven't seen yet. The church and old town hall are very interesting. The streets are cobbled and shops are interesting. We spend about two hours then are back in the car on the autobahn toward Rothenberg. We pull off into a roadside rest area to eat our sandwiches that we made at breakfast. It's a two and a half hour drive but I figure out how to hook up the blue tooth and then we have music!

Our hotel is in the inner city but we find it fairly easily and we have a parking space. The hotel manager is delightful. He even shared a bier with us! We think he even worked in the convention business of all things. Our room is in the third floor but very comfortable once we get the bags up.

Time to eat as our small lunch has worn off. We find a little bar restaurant that looks chancy but the food turns out to be inexpensive and delicious. We start with an onion soup. Then have a pork cutlet with a mushroom cream sauce and sauerbraten with red cabbage and potato dumplings. And a couple of beers of course!

We finish just in time to catch the Watchman's 8:00 English tour. It has just stopped raining so everything is damp and fresh and there is a chill in the air. Tour is great. Lots of history and insights into the town told with a bit of drama.

Castle day

Sunday, April 22

We start off with a nice breakfast that included croissants, orange juice, coffee, eggs, meat, cheese and rolls. We eat what we can as we may not get lunch so we make up some sandwiches to take with us.

It's a quick drive to the grounds. We figure out the parking and how to get our tickets. Our first tour is Hohenschwangau. This castle looks like people actually lived in it. It is beautifully situated with lovely views. The tour is short but now we have to walk down the hill, catch the bus, and make it up to Neuschwanstein in time for the next tour. The bus lets

us off by the bridge which has gorgeous views of the castle. Then we have a hike up. The tour is short, crowded, but interesting. Lots under renovation so not add impressive as it might be. It's 3 o'clock and we are hungry do stop at a snack bar for a bratwurst, fries, and a coke with ice!

A hefty hike back to the bus to take us down, a little bit of shopping, and we are ready to head out. We are too tired to do Fussen, so decide to drive to Weiskirche instead. It is a real treat. A gorgeous rococo church with a beautiful organ. It is quite a large church given that it is in the middle of the countryside.

It seems better to just stop and eat and then head back so we just pull into a gastthaus on the side of the road, but we score. Food is delicious. Steve has a pork cutlet with a fried egg, fried potatoes and bacon. I have a pork shank with cracklings, cabbage, and a decent dumpling. Along with our beer it is perfect.

Goodbye Munich, Hello Fussen

Saturday, April 21

First we do a last run thru the market for coffee, sandwiches and 3 liters of diet Pepsi. Then we walk thru the Marienplatz and make our way to the Hertz counter. Luckily it is easy and the car rental is as well. So we have a blue Volvo and Steve makes his way back  to the apartment on Reichenstrasse to pick up our bags.

It is a beautiful day and we easily make our way to the autobahn. Even without phone service we are easily able to navigate. The drive is amazing. The Alps are right before our eyes! We stop to eat our sandwiches at a small pull out with picnic tables. It's perfect and quick and we are back on our way.

Our b&b, Lippergutl, is not too hard to find but no one is home. So we explore a bit, driving through Fussen and Schwangau. Discover our b&b which is such a cool place. We meet our hosts. Colin is British. The house has several levels and parts of it date to medieval times.

We are settled so head to church in Schwangau which has a 6:30 pm mass. The chuch, St Georg, is very small and the mass is all in German  of course, but luckily it is a short mass. We are the only tourists. Most people are elderly and look like residents.

We walk across the street to have dinner at the Schwangau Brewhaus. The northeastern view is lovely looking at the alps and the two castles that light up as the sky darkens. We sit with a nice couple from Germany and Singapore. They make recommendations for us. We have the house beer, a deer goulash, and a schnitzel allgau. Food is fine but not stellar. We end with a Kaiserschmarn and are now stuffed and ready to go to bed.